U.S. Stocks Fall as Investors Weigh Fed Minutes, Payrolls Report

Bloomberg (09/01) -- U.S. stocks fell, after equities rebounded yesterday from a three-day retreat, as minutes from the Federal Reserve showed officials expressed concern about risks to financial stability and payrolls data topped estimates.

The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index lost less than 0.1 percent to 1,837.50 at 4 p.m. in New York. The equities benchmark climbed 30 percent last year, the most since 1997. The Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped 68.20 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,462.74. Fed officials saw diminishing economic benefits from the central bank’s bond buying program, according to the minutes of the meeting, when they took the first step to cut the pace of purchases. The minutes didn’t describe a set schedule for the pace of asset-purchase reductions, although “a few” officials mentioned the need for a “more deterministic path.”